Inspiring the Next Generation: Mentoring at Mid-Missouri STEM Goes Red for Girls

Central Missouri Chapter #341 had three women - President DeIla Ray, Chartering Member Sharon Niekamp, and Treasurer Kaylee Cannon - volunteer as mentors for the second annual Mid-Missouri STEM Goes Red for Girls event that took place on December 12th! 

This exciting and impactful day, organized by the American Heart Association (AHA), has a vital mission: to advance women’s heart health by encouraging more young women to pursue careers in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM). The AHA recognizes that empowering young women is key to building future leaders in these fields.

The day was spent inspiring over 120 8th-grade girls who have already shown an interest in STEM. As mentors, we proudly serve as role models and helped these students feel empowered to take a seat at any table in their future careers. 

To make the afternoon mentoring session interactive and fun, it was structured like a Jeopardy-style game. We were seated with a small group of 6–8 girls for two 20-minute sessions. As the girls select categories, we had about four minutes to discuss our personal experiences relevant to the questions.

The goal is to spark conversations about what it's really like to work in a STEM career and topics like:

• Education: What is one class or skill helpful for almost any career?

• Soft Skills: Give an example of a time when teamwork made a big difference.

• Day In the Life: If we followed you for a day, what would surprise us the most about your job?

• Career: What inspired you to choose your career?

  
  

Take a moment to reflect about your own career and answer the few questions above - you might not realize it, but your story could be the inspiration to jump start someone's career!

Thank you to the AHA and all the organizers for making this event happen. It was meaningful day serving our Mid-Missouri community and helping to inspire the youth!